Apogée Syrah

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All grapes were harvested by hand in cool early morning temperatures and left overnight in a cold room. The next morning 15% of the ferment was left as whole bunch and the rest was destemmed to a stainless steel fermenter. The must was left to cold soak for three days before the cooling was turned off and it was allowed to naturally heat up to atmospheric temperatures where after alcoholic fermentation occurred spontaneously. Once fermentation was completed the wine was left on skins for a period of 7 days wherafter the wine was softly pressed off from the skins. The wine was placed in older French oak barrels for maturation.

These Walker Bay vineyards of Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge are situated within close proximity to the Atlantic Ocean. The maritime climate being more “temperate” in style, where parallel mountain ranges channel the southerly sea breezes through the appellation during the summer. These winds in turn bring regular sea mists and overcast conditions to the valley and with it more even temperatures. The average temperature is 19°C and rainfall, approximately, 750mm per year.

The wine spent 12 months in barrel before being removed and blended in a stainless steel tank in and kept for a further 6 months. This was done to give the wine time to homogenise where after it was filtered and bottled.